International Scale Modeller

Well this puppy is finished. It's the Wingnut Wings Salmson 2-A2 USAS. It's been an exhausting build. But, it's my favorite of the 3 WNW that I've built and probably my favorite build in many years. I can't say enough about it. But here are some thoughts.

It's a WNW kit, so you know what you are getting. Great fitting parts, an amazing instruction manual and gorgeous decals. It fits like a glove. Some of the finer points are as follows:

1. Difficulty level: This build was a real challenge for me in particular because of the rigging. There is a lot of it on this plane. I used EZ line and found a method that works the best for me. But there were times when I wanted to throw this thing across the room because it is such tedious work. EZ line works. But its very fiddly to work with. Even though I hate doing the rigging, it is really worth the effort in any of these builds because it adds so much live to it. I put in the internal rigging as well, and the machine guns even have a little rigging on them. Other than the rigging though, it's fit and assembly is comparable to Tamiya.

2. Wood effects: I went for a darker look than called for. But the same method was used throughout. Paint a lighter color, then streak enamel of a darker color, and finally coat it with clear yellow. Various tutorials on the method are on Youtube so I wont get to crazy.

3. Decals: Cartograf, nothing more needs to be said.

4. Painting:I followed the basic paint scheme of the E version. I used slightly different tones than they did. I like my colors a little on the rich side tone wise. In case anyone ever wonders, I use a Tamiya HG 3 dual action airbrush. It's comparable to some of the Iwata's and I've heard that it is actually made in the same factory. I could be wrong though. Either way, I love it's simplicity and it has served me well.

Conclusion: I highly recommend this kit. But, it is challenging. It has been an extremely rewarding experience for me and I hope to see more guys build these because they are just "plane" fun.

Cheers and happy modeling from Japan!!

Matt

I think it is GREAT!!!

I agree, it is an outstanding piece of work

very, very nice, you've done an outstanding job!

must save my pennies to get the Camel when they release it later this year

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Stunning mate

Beautiful work. Yet to try a WNW kit. Might practise my rigging technique first. Love the paint effect/weathered decals? on the tail.

A lovely model.

Absolutely stunning, and as my 1st WNM is sitting just 4 ft away from me (Sopwith Snipe late version), looking at your pictures truly inspires.
The rigging is a major part Im guessing, what technique did you use?...what gauge EZ line did you use also?...I need to get loads of info before I start on it. Have seen the Gaspatch stuff and also the Vid's on WNM site, any others worth looking at that you could recommend. Sorry for all the questions, but your work is inspiring....

gazmat wrote: Absolutely stunning, and as my 1st WNM is sitting just 4 ft away from me (Sopwith Snipe late version), looking at your pictures truly inspires.
The rigging is a major part Im guessing, what technique did you use?...what gauge EZ line did you use also?...I need to get loads of info before I start on it. Have seen the Gaspatch stuff and also the Vid's on WNM site, any others worth looking at that you could recommend. Sorry for all the questions, but your work is inspiring....

You will need tweezers, CA glue, and a toothpick. I used fine EZ line. First I must say that the method that WNW recommends is crazy. They say to glue all the rigging to the top wing before attaching it. Trim the line and stretch it and glue the other end. You will drive yourself insane doing it this way. I did it this way as follows:

1. Drill completely through the bottom wing at the attachment points using a .5 mm drill bit.
2. Attach the top wing to the bottom wing. In this case, I did each wing half separately as well as the cabane rigging before attaching the wings to the fuselage.
3. Glue rigging to the top wing at the attachment points.
4. Pull the rigging through the bottom wing holes that were drilled and glue at the attachment point. Glue is applied in all cases using CA and a toothpick.
5. Trim the excess rigging flush at the wing. Holes can be filled or painted over and will not be noticed anyway because they are on the bottom.
6. Paint rigging with a brush in whatever desired color as this EZ line was green.

Notes: I've tried using eyelets on my previous builds. The problem with them and brass turnbuckles is that they tend to look a little out of scale and the angles of the rigging don't look natural. In this case, it looks correct and in scale. I would love to learn how to do turnbuckle detail in scale. But rigging is tedious work. This was the simplest solution I've found and it works well. I hope this helps.

Hey, thank you for all that information, yes I agree that seems a simpler way of the attaching the rigging. I always thought turnbuckles looked out of scale, so thanks for that piece of information. I may come back to you and ask few more questions if thats ok Strawnobi.
Thanks for your time.

gazmat wrote:Hey, thank you for all that information, yes I agree that seems a simpler way of the attaching the rigging. I always thought turnbuckles looked out of scale, so thanks for that piece of information. I may come back to you and ask few more questions if thats ok Strawnobi.
Thanks for your time.

No problem!!! Good luck with the Snipe. It looks like a fun kit as well. If I can be of any help just ask away. We are here to help each other in this glorious hobby.

Matt, Great looking model and your pictures are excellent and a god send for me. On the decal sheet that came with this kit there are decals of a knight with a white shield with the (I believe) number 91 chasing the devil. The is the symbol for the 91st Aero Sqd which today is the 91st COS Sqd at Lackland AFB. I work for them and come August 1917 it will be their 100th year since standing up. There are pictures of this Salmson 2-A2 all through the facility along with the pilots and support personel. The conference room is named after the first commander. I just was ask yesterday to assemble this same kit for display at the front entrance to the unit as part of their anniversity celebration being planned for next year.

I build ships and armor and haven't done a airplane let alone a Bi-Plane ins 40 years. They know that but ask me anyway and I agreed (no charge, I figure they will keep me in donuts). I don't have a clue as to what I am getting myself into but I figure if I take my time (I have until next August) it shouldn't be to bad. Would you mind at times if I can ask you for advice when I am befuddled?

Again, great looking paint work and detail.

Marcus

d6mst0 wrote:Matt, Great looking model and your pictures are excellent and a god send for me. On the decal sheet that came with this kit there are decals of a knight with a white shield with the (I believe) number 91 chasing the devil. The is the symbol for the 91st Aero Sqd which today is the 91st COS Sqd at Lackland AFB. I work for them and come August 1917 it will be their 100th year since standing up. There are pictures of this Salmson 2-A2 all through the facility along with the pilots and support personel. The conference room is named after the first commander. I just was ask yesterday to assemble this same kit for display at the front entrance to the unit as part of their anniversity celebration being planned for next year.

I build ships and armor and haven't done a airplane let alone a Bi-Plane ins 40 years. They know that but ask me anyway and I agreed (no charge, I figure they will keep me in donuts). I don't have a clue as to what I am getting myself into but I figure if I take my time (I have until next August) it shouldn't be to bad. Would you mind at times if I can ask you for advice when I am befuddled?

Again, great looking paint work and detail.

Marcus

No problem sir. I think you will find it fits together very well. The two biggest challenges with most WNW kits are rigging and the wood effects needed. I added some ignition wiring to the engine as well. You could actually go nuts reproducing some of the detail in the pictures of the manual. My best advice with any WNW kit is take your time and use the KISS principle wherever you can. The great thing about these kits is that each sub assembly is basically a model kit unto itself. So focus on whatever sub assembly you are doing and eventually it all comes together.

One other thing I would mention is I recommend assembling the wings in halves rather than gluing the entire top wing at once. The reason for this is it will allow you to more easily do the cabane rigging and you can do most of the rigging on each wing half before attaching them to the fuselage. If you have any more questions down the road I will be glad to help you where I can. I hope your build goes great. It's my favorite so far of the 3 WNW I own. Happy Modelling.

Absolutely stunning work. Particularly like the prop and guns. Very detailed.

What color EZ-Line did you use? It looks grey in the pictures to me.

d6mst0 wrote:What color EZ-Line did you use? It looks grey in the pictures to me.

It's green. I painted it Mr. Color silver with a brush after I installed it.

Another question.

I read that landing struts for model airplanes are the one item that is allowed to be out of scale because a strut in-scale would not be able to carry the weight of the plane. So I was wondering how the landing struts were for this kt. I see there is a white-metal replacement struts for this model and would they be worth the investment.

d6mst0 wrote:Another question.

I read that landing struts for model airplanes are the one item that is allowed to be out of scale because a strut in-scale would not be able to carry the weight of the plane. So I was wondering how the landing struts were for this kt. I see there is a white-metal replacement struts for this model and would they be worth the investment.

The struts are fine. Don't bother replacing them they are plenty strong and fit wonderfully. I've built three WNW kits and have not had any trouble with any of them.

Thank you for letting me know about the struts.

That is absolutely gorgeous!

GarethCrossland wrote:That is absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you and all you other gents for the kind words. It makes building even more rewarding.

Stunning job. Everything about that just oozes quality and skill.

Avgas wrote:Stunning job. Everything about that just oozes quality and skill.

Thanks for the kind words!!! Hope all is well in your neck of the modelling world.

Yep, back into it now after a bit of a lay off. Still s*ite at it but I enjoy it!

Great job strawnobi. I just love the wwI planes.

Great Build Matt
Really enjoyed watching the pics go up on the FB page
Super work
Keep your eyes peeled on friday show

Timplastic wrote:Great Build Matt
Really enjoyed watching the pics go up on the FB page
Super work
Keep your eyes peeled on friday show

Thanks. I tried watching the Friday show. I didn't see anything. Was there something special?

Great build and nice detailing well done.

strawnobi wrote:

Timplastic wrote:Great Build Matt
Really enjoyed watching the pics go up on the FB page
Super work
Keep your eyes peeled on friday show

Thanks. I tried watching the Friday show. I didn't see anything. Was there something special?

The show crashed before we where able too show builds on the show

Wow and wow again ! I love to see posts on wingnuts planes. They are breathtaking. My skills aren t there yet to try my hand on one tough. To much of a newbie ! Do you know if they have eay ones ?
Nice work again

Fantastic build mate, looks superb!!

Garion77 wrote:Wow and wow again ! I love to see posts on wingnuts planes. They are breathtaking. My skills aren t there yet to try my hand on one tough. To much of a newbie ! Do you know if they have eay ones ?
Nice work again

It depends on your definition of easy. They all go together like butter in the sense that the fit is fantastic. That aspect of the build doesn't fight you. I compare the fit to Tamiya. Decals are amazing. It's the little things that are exhausting and take patience. As you progress through the build you have to constantly be thinking ahead when you are working with rigging and other aspects. In this case there is rigging in the cabanes as well as other rigging that connects to the fuselage. So, how you attach the wings becomes important in sequencing the build.

This particular bird has a ton of rigging. EZ line works. But it takes patience. Mono filament will work too. But it has to be stretched to achieve the proper tension. Like I said above I figured the best way for me. But this aspect alone turns some modellers off to WWI birds. Plus there is a lot of internal work that has to be done. I've never built it but their Fokker D. VII looks like it might be a good place to start with one. Very little rigging was on that plane. As memory serves none was on the wings I do believe but my memory is a bit foggy so don't quote me on it. Check out their website. They've got tips on building as well.

There are some simpler kits on the market from other manufacturers to get started with. I would start there first.



If I can be of any help drop me a line.

Please update photo links.